In April of this year, Wired News did a piece on Picking the Pope's Domain Name: "Rogers Cadenhead first purchased the rights to BenedictXVI.com on April 1 -- more than two-and-a-half weeks before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger announced that he would assume the papacy under the name of Benedict XVI."

Now as the year comes to an end, BBC News reports on
How the new Pope sparked a bidding war (on Ebay)

"Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI inspired some to create new email addresses
As the news broke, there was a rush to be the first to register the new title as a web or e-mail address, sparking an online bidding war.

Now a whole range of papal domain names and e-mail addresses are up for sale on eBay, sitting alongside the commemorative mugs, photos, t-shirts, thimbles, watches and other Pope paraphernalia."

If the Pope had been a football star or a celebrity, the domains would be recoverable. But if you are famous but not making money off your name, there is no easy remedy for you. Religious leader and politicians are perhaps the most vulnerable...